Pensions, jobs, banks are the sectors where the Italian government wanted and / or could get its hands on the latest maneuver before the spring elections. Pensions, with measures to mitigate the effects of the Fornero reform, and work, with the end of Vouchers and the launch of inclusion income. But also the banks, with the Investigation Commission, and the Supervisory Authorities, with the confirmation of Ignazio Visco at the helm of Bankitalia and the appointment of Mario Nava at the helm of Consob. In the summary of the premier himself, entrusted to a tweet, the maneuver brings "incentives to hire young people and support for companies that innovate". Advance of pension for some categories. Resources for public contracts. And no new taxes. As usual, the opinion overturned by the oppositions that speak, according to Giorgia Meloni, of a law in which billions are spent that are not available by unloading the cost of those choices on the next government.
One of the main measures of the budget law is the package that incorporates the agreement between the government and the unions on the social security system. The first objective is to exempt workers engaged in heavy-duty activities from raising the retirement age to 67. In 2019, 14.600 will be exempted. A cost of 100 million is expected for the first year and almost 2021 million in the three-year period up to 385. In 2027, the stop will affect 20.900 workers for 166,2 million euros. There are also measures to encourage the development of supplementary pensions.
After a heated debate in the first three months of 2017, the stop to vouchers has arrived, abolished for both businesses and families. In the decree that actually anticipates the maneuver, in July, the discipline of casual work changes, with the introduction of the 'Family booklet' for family-run businesses and the 'Occasional performance contract' for other businesses. The roofs change annually for this form of work. Each company will be able to pay compensation for occasional work for a maximum of 5.000 euros per year, while the worker can receive compensation from the same employer up to a maximum of 2.500 euros.
Still on the work front, we note the introduction of the Rei, the Inclusion Income. It is a measure to combat poverty that citizens in possession of the required requirements can request from last December 1st at the municipality of residence. The Rei provides an economic benefit, disbursed monthly through an electronic payment card (REI Card) and a personalized project of activation and social and work inclusion aimed at overcoming the condition of poverty, prepared under the direction of the social services of the Municipality.
The second part of the year was marked by the banking crises. From the preventive recapitalization of MPS, with the return of the bank in the hands of the Treasury, to the liquidation of BPVI and Veneto Banca, then 'absorbed' by Intesa SanPaolo. Until the case of the alleged conflict of interests of Maria Elena Boschi in the management of the Banca Etruria dossier, which monopolized the attention of the Commission of inquiry on banks.
The work of the Commission involved parliamentarians for 200 hours of hearings, with 48 people heard in 47 sessions. There have been authoritative testimonies and facts and assessments have emerged which will be summarized in a final document. First the discussion, heated, between Bankitalia and Consob on their respective responsibilities in Supervision. Then the interventions of the magistrates who are dealing with investigations on the criminal implications of the bad gestures that have emerged. Until the final week, with the hearings of the Minister of Economy Pier Carlo Padoan, the Governor of Bankitalia Ignazio Visco and the former CEO of Unicredit, Federico Ghizzoni. Their contributions, which have served above all to outline the relations between the Democratic Party and the institutions on the Etruria dossier. There were questions, but not pressure, the different testimonies agreed. But an email from Marco Carrai also emerged, an entrepreneur considered very close to the former premier, who will certainly remain, with the whole dossier, at the center of the electoral campaign. The match on the banks brought to the fore the renewals at the top of Bankitalia and Consob. The confirmation of Ignazio Visco at the helm of Via Nazionale came in November following the decision of Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, supported by the Quirinale, after the repeated attacks by Renzi and a parliamentary motion of the Democratic Party calling for discontinuity. On the other hand, the decision of the CDM to designate Mario Nava as president of Consob last Friday. A decision, that of choosing a technician for over twenty years of service to the European Commission, of clear discontinuity with respect to the Vegas area.